1500 RDP houses to be built in Ocean View

The construction of 1500 subsidy (RDP) houses at Ocean View in Jeffreys Bay has taken a major step forward.

The site of the development was officially handed over to a civils company on Tuesday. The company, Norland Construction (Pty) Ltd, will be installing the bulk infrastructure.

Norland was awarded the contract by the provincial Department of Human Settlements (DoHS) and has already started with site establishment.

The R46-million project will take about 24 months to complete and includes the installation of roads, water and sewer connections.

During this project, the DoHS will open its procurement processes to bidders for the construction of the top structures of the houses.

The project is now one of three housing projects currently underway in Kouga, joining Kruisfontein (391 units) and Pellsrus (220 units).

It is one of 10 projects approved by the Department for the Kouga Municipality back in 2009 and which were delayed due to insufficient bulk infrastructure.

Kouga Planning, Development and Tourism Portfolio Councillor Bryan Dhludhlu said the municipality was pleased to be part of the programme that would change people’s lives.

“The people of Kouga and those of Ocean View, in particular, have been waiting for a very long time to be provided with decent housing. It is quite momentous to be part the occasion where we start the realisation of those dreams,” he said.

Dhludhlu said the community, especially beneficiaries, will play a very significant role in the success of the project and that there will be continuous engagement with the public to explain the stages of the development.

“The civils work will be done in three phases, with the pegged area around King’s College being the first phase.

“During construction, we may have to ask residents of the informal settlement to move to a temporary area to make way for the development and we ask that the community work with us to minimise delays as much as possible,” he said.

A number of jobs are expected to be created during the project and the contractor may enlist the services of local contractors for some of the work.

The municipality will re-establish housing committees, made up of beneficiaries, to ensure that there is strong public participation and liaison throughout the projects.

“It is important that the community takes ownership of the project and that the government roleplayers ensure that they are as transparent as possible,” said Dhludhlu.